Category Archives: Star Wars

Rian Johnson officially confirmed for Episode VIII, first standalone to be Rogue One

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Star_Wars_logoPretty much the whole world has known for a while that Episode VIII’s director would be Rian Johnson, but Bob Iger and Disney made it official today.

Iger confirmed that Rian Johnson will write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII. The film, which continues the saga after the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is set for release on May 26, 2017 — forty years and a day after the release of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977.

Of note is Star Wars returning to a traditional May release window. Looks like we’ll only be doing one holiday Star Wars episodic release. Believe it or not, though, this wasn’t the biggest announcement in this press release. We finally have the name of the first standalone film: Rogue One.

Rogue One is the title for the first film in a unique series of big-screen adventures that explores the characters and events beyond the core Star Wars saga. Rogue One will be directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) and written by Oscar nominee Chris Weitz (Cinderella, About a Boy, Antz). The first actress cast is Felicity Jones, who garnered an Academy Award nomination and critical acclaim for her performance in The Theory of Everything.

Be still my heart! I mean, we don’t really know what the film is about, but it’s hard to see that title and not think Rogue Squadron and military science fiction. And, hey, there’s a lot of great written material to draw inspiration from.

Review: Star Wars #3

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It’s an explosive conclusion this week to the first arc of the new Star Wars comic. Star Wars #3 by Jason Aaron and John Cassaday is out now and so far, they’ve lived up to the promise of their first issue. Luke, Leia, and Han’s mission to destroy the weapons factory hasn’t gone as planned and now, it’ll be tough enough to escape from Vader and the Empire with their lives let alone finish their mission.

As with the previous issues, it’s obvious that this is a labor of love for both Aaron and Cassaday. It’s difficult to say which Aaron does a better job with: the characters or the plot. That’s impressive. His Leia and Han have the perfect level of post-Yavin bickering (aka: not too heavy on the flirting subtext) while Luke is trying to live up to his mental expectations for himself. Or at least what he thinks Obi-Wan and his father would expect of him.

The plot line for this first arc was a great choice. Attacking a weapons factory is a high stakes mission without being involving entire fleets and large armies. It’s the right level of important and tense for a story such as this and, without any spoilers, I found it to have a very satisfying conclusion.

Cassaday’s art with Laura Martin’s colors continue to be a great fit for the book. His panels where he’s having fun with facial expressions are definitely my favorites. The joy on Luke’s face as he flies the speeder, even in the heat of battle, is positively tangible.

As I said in my review of the first issue, the true test of this book will be how the second arc plays out. However, if the last two pages are any indicator, I think it has potential to be just as great.

Star Wars #3 gets a 4/5 from me for both this issue and for the first arc. Go pick up the first three issues if you haven’t yet!

Barriss Offee Shouldn’t Be An Inquisitor

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barriss offeeThe Star Wars fandom has a PhD in speculation and theories and we’ve certainly continued in that fine tradition with Rebels. One theory that’s come up a few times especially in the wake of the Season 1 finale is that it’d be interesting to see Barriss Offee resurface as an Inquisitor. Personally? I think that’s a bad idea.

I’ve said more than a few times that I strongly disagree with how Barriss was used in The Clone Wars Season Five finale. I don’t think it made sense for her character and didn’t have the intended impact since she’d rarely been in the show over the past few seasons. A different character could have better served the role of betraying Ahsoka. If you’re going to mess with a character to her very core than at least earn it through a well built arc.

However, this isn’t about The Clone Wars and what happened is canon. Although she fell to the dark side (I find this debatable) and blamed the Jedi for the war, we don’t actually know what happened to her. A good guess is that she was put in the Jedi’s prison basement which they (like the X-men and Avengers) totally have and after that, your guess is as good as mine. For all we know, Barriss was redeemed or maybe she was another casualty of Order 66. That said, I find it unlikely that she survived the Jedi Purge.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say she did survive.

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20 New Star Wars Books and Comics to Fill in Gap Between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens

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Star_Wars_logoThose of you thirsty for some information of the state of the Galaxy Far Far Away leading up to The Force Awakens are in luck. According to an exclusive report at Entertainment Weekly, there are at least twenty new Star Wars books and comics to be released later this year fleshing out the thirty-two years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, ranging all different publishers and target age demographics in a series called Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Content under that title will be released by various Disney imprints as well as at least seven outside companies and is confirmed to include adult novels, young adult novels, sticker books, and comics.

Details on most of the books involved are still under wraps and many of the books are still being worked on, but we do know some about of the upcoming material:

A few titles we can confirm are Del Rey’s Star Wars: Aftermath, which sounds like it may serve as an epilogue to the original trilogy – and perhaps a prologue to the new one. Meanwhile, Marvel Comics will put out one prequel called Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens and another preview story told from C-3PO’s perspective. For vehicle enthusiasts, Studio Fun International will print Star Wars: Ships of the Galaxy.

The report also let’s us know some of the authors involved for a series of young adult novels focusing on the characters of original trilogy, to be released by Disney-Lucasfilm Press:

Cecil Castellucci (author of Tin Star) will write Moving Target, an adventure following Princess Leia; Jason Fry, who earlier wrote Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy, will be the author of The Weapon of a Jedi, about Luke Skywalker; Claudia Gray, author of the Evernight series of fantasy books, will write a book titled Lost Stars; and Greg Rucka, a comic book scribe and writer of the Atticus Kodiak novels, will pen Smuggler’s Run, a Han Solo tale.

There will also be a new series of novels retelling the original trilogy from various perspectives, though there’s no word yet on whose points of view we’ll see.

Star Wars canon to introduce first LGBT character

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Lords of the SithBryan Young at Big Shiny Robot has the scoop: Paul S. Kemp’s Lords of the Sith will feature the first LGBT character of the new story group era.

Moff Mors is an Imperial who has made some very serious mistakes but she is an incredibly capable leader and spends much of the book working hard to prevent absolute failure. She also happens to be a lesbian.

Awesome. What’s more, Bryan sat down with Del Rey’s Editor-at-Large Shelly Shapiro to talk diversity in Star Wars and Star Wars literature in a recent Full of Sith episode.

This is certainly the first character in canon,” Shapiro says. “But there was a gay Mandalorian couple, so it’s not brand new. It’s not something I really think about, it just makes sense. There’s a lot of diversity–there should be diversity in “Star Wars.”

Emphasis added. Well put, Ms. Shapiro.

Be sure to head to the Big Shiny Robot link above for more information.

The Big Problem with Heir to the Jedi

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Heir to the JediI cannot talk about Heir to the Jedi without revealing spoilers. I’m too emotionally invested in Luke Skywalker’s life. If you’d like to read a non-spoiler opinion, let me direct you to Bria’s review over here. However, if you’ve already read the book, or just don’t care about being spoiled for the end, proceed at your own caution.

(I’m serious.

Major spoilers abound after the cut.

You’ve been warned.)

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Review: Princess Leia #1

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Leia_Dodson1Remember back in August when I wrote about what I hoped for with a Mark Waid Leia comic? Yeah, he nailed it. I won’t beat around the bush here. I loved this issue. Go to your comic store right now and pick up Princess Leia #1 by Mark Waid with art by Terry Dodson, inks by Rachel Dodson, and colors by Jordie Bellaire. Need another reason why? Well read on for a mostly spoiler-free review.

The book picks up immediately after the Battle of Yavin with the medal ceremony and Leia giving a very brief speech commemorating the losses of all those who gave their lives fighting the Empire and especially Alderaan. There is no time for sorrows though as the Rebels must immediately dismantle the base and flee. Leia, however, wants to embark on a mission of her own: to find and protect all the remaining Alderaanians in the galaxy… with or without the Alliance’s approval.

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Go/No-Go: Heir to the Jedi

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nasa-mission-control-3

Welcome back to Go/No-Go, Tosche Station’s regular feature where we offer our spoiler-free opinion as to whether or not you should spend your hard-earned money on a book, film, or other entertainment. Today on the launch pad: Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi.  It’s the first novel written in first person since I, Jedi and stars the one and only Luke Skywalker.  To mission control for the verdict!

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MLB offers Star Wars fun and bobbleheads

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r2 bobbleheadMajor League Baseball gets into celebrating Star Wars each year with Star Wars nights at selected ballparks.  This year, Cincinnati Reds fans can get this R2-D2 bobblehead with a view level ticket for $25.  The night also features Star Wars music and firework show, character visits, and (usually) an appearance from the Ohio Garrison of the 501st.

Star Wars nights at MLB ballparks also help support the charity StandUp2Cancer.  Other teams hosting Star Wars night during the 2015 season include the Mets, Dodgers, and Cardinals.  Keep an eye on your team’s schedule to see if they’ll be hosting a similar Star Wars night (and ticket deal).

Review: Darth Vader #2

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How do you follow up a solidly good first issue that teased at plenty of future plot points? By focusing the second issue on just one of them. Darth Vader #2 by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca is out today in which the creative team does precisely that. After the disaster of the Death Star’s destruction, Vader is in disgrace and now must follow the commands of Grand General Tagge as a part of the grand plan to strike back against the Rebellion… one corvette at a time. (Spoiler Alert: Vader does NOT win Coruscant’s Next Top Model in this issue. Sorry.)

Surprisingly, this series is turning out to be very character driven which is something I wouldn’t necessarily expect from a book about Darth Vader. As proven with the previous issue, Gillen definitely knows what he’s doing with Vader but the character that really stood out to me in this issue was Tagge. (That’s Grand General, by the way, not just General.) With the exception of Palpatine, it floors me that anyone in the Empire would have the balls to speak to someone as imposing as Darth Vader like Tagge did. If you thought how Tarkin acted in A New Hope was impressive… just read issue #2. This is a characterization that seems like it will pay off further down the line along perhaps before Vader discovers more about the Rebel pilot’s identity…

On the art front, Larroca continues to draw a pretty darn good Vader. He’s got a great eye for detail that translates to not just the iconic costume but also to things like holograms or distant ships through a viewport. Also, I’m not sure who’s having more fun with all these explosions: Gillen writing them or Larroca drawing and Edgar Delgado coloring them. Artistically speaking, having Larroca on interior art and Adi Granov on covers is a winning combination for this book.

Can we start spelling poor Kieron Gillen’s name right in the opening credits though?  This is two issues in a row now where they’ve gotten it wrong.

Darth Vader #2 is another solid showing from the creative team and I’m definitely excited for the next issue.